


sahasa

by AllegoriesInMediasRes



Series: Ramayana fics [12]
Category: Ramayana - Valmiki
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Incomplete, Kaivalya Verse, Prequel, WIP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-08-01 09:40:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16282181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllegoriesInMediasRes/pseuds/AllegoriesInMediasRes
Summary: Ruma is so desperate to escape Kishkindha, where she lives at the whim of a cruel king, that she thinks she would burn it to the ground if only it means she would escape.So she does exactly that.AU, kaivalya verse.sahasa (Sanksrit): reckless act





	sahasa

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [kaivalya](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16116821) by [AllegoriesInMediasRes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllegoriesInMediasRes/pseuds/AllegoriesInMediasRes). 



Ruma tries to escape. Of course she does. Her initial attempt is born of desperation, after the second or third time Vali drags her to bed. She jumps from the palace window, two stories down, nearly spraining her ankle. She has not hobbled thirty strides before the guards catch her and haul her back into the chambers. He merely chuckles at her foolishness.

The second time, she gives out word that she is ill and shuts herself up in her own bedroom. She sneaks out dressed as a maidservant when no one will miss her. It almost works, but one of Vali’s lackeys recognizes her and hauls her back again. This time the king is not so merciful.

* * *

His favorite thing to do is to grab her chin. It’s a gesture almost like a father doing so to a disobedient daughter, which in practical terms is not entirely inappropriate for them. He is her husband’s edler brother after all, her _jeeth_ and therefore like a father to her. He squeezes it so hard a permanent half-ring bruise forms there.

This time, she is mindlessly compliant to his attentions, even drawing back the bedsheet for him when he comes. She says almost nothing from one day to the next, and in the long hours when Vali snores besides her, or on the nights when he attends Tara’s bed instead, she lies awake in the darkness unblinking.

She may be a prisoner, but she is also the younger Queen of Kishkindha and still commands servants.

“Bring me all the spare oil.”

“Any families in the palace with children are to clear out after the full moon.”

“Inspect the palace and tell me the composition of every rooms.”

They are simple, harmless enough commands and the servants follow them immediately, to the letter, without looking her in the eye. As if through unquestioning obedience, they can repent of their helpless complicity.

On the day of, Vali, Tara, and Angad are all either in the courtyard or in other wings of the palace. Ruma has been methodical, almost calculating, in oil-soaking various rugs, tapestries, and furniture throughout her chosen chambers. Chambers where the servants don’t always clean every day, especially now that they work with a skeleton staff. Chambers built mostly out of wood.

She has constructed her kindling path with discipline that would shame their finest generals. Now, Ruma acts with brutal swiftness, throwing lit wicks wherever she can, until she has stoked a nicely burning inferno. She surveys her handiwork with satisfaction, and then hastens back to her chambers.

In due time, she hears the shouts of panic and the thundering of feet. The guards and servants remaining within the palace are sensible enough to know how to put out a fire in due time without anyone getting hurt, but it will require every available pair of hands. Meanwhile, the royal quarters are deserted, and Ruma sprints faster than she ever has, through the halls, through the courtyards, to the gates of the palace and into the untamed wilderness. She has packed some food, and if she is skilled in making use of the forest around her, she will have enough to sustain her until she reaches Mount Rishyamuk.

Ruma escapes. She is violated still, but in this world, she is fortunate enough to escape before she drowns in the bottle. She escapes and lives with her husband as a free woman in exile rather than as a prisoner in her own home. Ruma escapes, and in doing so ensures her husband can never make an alliance to regain his home.

But even in a world where Sugriva hates the name Rama, a city is still fated to burn. If not Lanka, this time Kishkindha.


End file.
